Interesting stuff of varying importance

-Balko: Virginia cops respond to yet another fatality due to drug war enforcement overkill by (of course) upgrading their battering rams. Hey, here’s an idea, how about not busting down the doors of people who aren’t a threat to anybody?

-Continuing the drugs theme, Gone Hollywood spotted this story about “Lady Gaga” becoming a brand name for heroin. The timing on this is uncanny, since I happened to watch American Gangster (a semi-bio pic about a heroin trafficker that also branded his smack, in case you aren’t familiar) last night.

-John Klick, in a Cato Unbound discussion on paternalism, notes that some people are apparently bringing their parents to job interviews.

-Shorter Sullivan: “Joe Ratzinger does not care about raped kids”. In other news, the surface of the sun is very hot…